We had a question for our lovely nutritionist, Rebecca. She was asked, "I was wondering what level of salt and sugar per 100grams would be ok for my 8 month old to have. I read the ingredients list of the back of packaging and never buy anything with salt or sugar in as im not sure how much is ok for them to have. Some of my coffee group give their babies marmite on toast and also weetbix both containing salt, are these ok?
 
Also im still breast feeding and trying to encourage my baby to have water but he doesnt drink very much i have tried it in a bottle too but he just chews the teat! How much water should he be drinking or as he is being breastfed still does it not matter?"

Rebecca answered,"I am not aware of any 'per 100g' guidelines for sugar and salt for this age group, however choosing low salt and sugar foods is ideal so as to not accustom your infant to their taste. I imagine it is difficult finding foods completely absent of sugar and salt so don't be too concerned if they're present in small amounts as they may be inherent, for example lactose is a milk sugar and sodium is present in bread and naturally in some vegetables (very small amounts). I see no reason why Marmite and Weet-Bix can't be offered. It is recommended for this age group you don't add sugar or salt to foods or drinks as they are of no nutritional benefit.

Infants aged between seven and twelve months should be consuming approximately 800ml of total fluids per day. Ideally breastmilk/formula/water should contribute 600ml (approx 2.5 cups) with the remainder coming from complementary foods. Breast milk is 87% water which will definitely be contributing to total intake." She also mentioned this article if you need help deciphering food labels.

On a practical note, I suggested that my eldest boy used to just chew the teat on bottles offered with water. He was exclusively breastfed until I started weaning him, but with my other two children I used to give them expressed milk to get them used to teats! However I did find that my eldest was taking in water even when chewing on the teat as some water gets squeezed out. I ended up moving him onto the Avent magic cup as it had a firmer style teat and he got that idea quite quickly.